>when in fact it's just the act of choosing the side that's winning
In a fairly benign way, maybe. But if you want to take the moral high ground then you should be careful not to steer people, friends and family especially, into an us vs them trap which inherently forces them to militarize their position. Myself, I have no issue with people who aren't for me or against me and I have no idea how the 'for me or against me' phrase could maintain popularity in any civil society. Some people truly do just want to get through life and feed their family without the bs of others trying to coopt their minds and bodies into fighting their personal battles for often petty reasons. I get militarizing against big threats, I served my time, but there's just so many petty battles out there that's not worth wasting energy over and better left to more productive energy.
> Some people truly do just want to get through life and feed their family without the bs of others trying to coopt their minds and bodies
Sure. Everybody wants that. But not everybody gets it. And if some people are getting paid because other people are getting exploited, then their peace is coming at the expense of other people's pain.
If the Facebook guy is comfortable with the fact that he is making a living working for a company that is morally dubious (even ignoring that they make their money selling their users up for manipulation), then he should own that. But we aren't all obligated to pretend that isn't happening just so he feels better about his fat paycheck.
I used to make a lot of money working for financial traders. But I don't do that work any more because it was at best zero sum, but in practice I think it was mostly parasitic on society. Now I do work that I think is more valuable, even if it pays less. Nobody owes me the difference in pay, just like if I had stayed, nobody would have owed me participation in the fiction that I was doing something worthwhile.
In a fairly benign way, maybe. But if you want to take the moral high ground then you should be careful not to steer people, friends and family especially, into an us vs them trap which inherently forces them to militarize their position. Myself, I have no issue with people who aren't for me or against me and I have no idea how the 'for me or against me' phrase could maintain popularity in any civil society. Some people truly do just want to get through life and feed their family without the bs of others trying to coopt their minds and bodies into fighting their personal battles for often petty reasons. I get militarizing against big threats, I served my time, but there's just so many petty battles out there that's not worth wasting energy over and better left to more productive energy.